If this doesn’t match up with stereotypes, it may well be that the definition was “people who play online games on their computer, social networking sites, or mobile devices.” It seems inconceivable this isn’t intended to include games consoles (or that respondents wouldn’t have just interpreted the question that way.) However, the key is the mention of social networking sites: tending your crops in Farmville is classed as online gaming, which — based only on my personal experience — may affect the gender balance.

The survey also found that 57% of women who game online “have sex” (whatever frequency counts for that definition) compared with 52% of female non-gamers. Meanwhile 38% of female gamers have sex once a week, compared with 34% of female non-gamers. Of course, that level of difference has little if any statistical significance.

Similar points of comparison between female gamers and non-gamers found gamers are more likely to watch TV, but also more likely to play sports, and more likely to socialize regularly, though again the differences were relatively small. Female gamers were notably more likely to use social networks, though given the definition of online gaming used, that’s kind of a circular question.

The survey also found that gamers were more likely to have children aged under 18 (38% vs 28%). Meanwhile just under two-thirds lived with a husband or partner, most were happy with their relationship, and nearly two-thirds are aged 35 or older.

Of the female gamers, half said games made them feel smarter, while a majority said games were either a way to relieve stress, deal with boredom, or take a mental break. Only one in six said games were a way to connect with people.

Okay, time for a REAL woman gamer to weigh in. I'm 51, live in Florida and I AM a gamer…a REAL gamer. XBox Live gold, play online…Modern Warfare, Halo, Gears, Rainbow, Borderlands, Crackdown, etc etc etc… I don't know if this survey has any validity to it…still trying to figure out how their data was collected…but as for me, my husband and I both are gamers. I actually met him while playing Halo 2 when I joined a clan he was a member of. Our sex life? Well, let's just say we're VERY happily married, and we'll leave it at that, k? And yes, to answer one of those posters up there, guys online frequently do get upset when I've beaten them….ESPECIALLY when they find out that I'm an older woman as well LOL :)

I have some issue with the validity of this survey. I've been going to games and science fiction conventions for decades, and though the ratio of women to men has improved, it's still far from parity. Same goes for the local board games meetup, or the crowds I see at LAN parties. If this is an online survey, and asks the participants to self-identify their gender, well that's not going to get you a lot of accuracy.

Of course if you're talking Rock Band and DDR, yeah, there's a lot more girls there. I'm not sure that the Facebook games should be discounted. They are games, even if they're primitive and annoying as hell.